The term "wiring" is understood in the industry, in the case of electrical apparatus or apparatus systems, to mean the connecting of terminals to an electric line and the contacting of this line at the applicable terminal, in order to establish an electrical connection, for example with the associated switch element. This kind of wiring is required in the majority of electrical apparatus operating in the low-current range, including electronic switch control and regulating equipment and in apparatus systems, this latter overall term being understood to include in particular such elements as printed circuit boards, plug-in packages or modules, etc., which as available on the market are designed as units and are intended to be inserted into electrical apparatus. For the wiring itself, as a rule, switch wires, which are provided with a lacquer coating or a sheath of insulating material, or insulated flexible cables are used as the lines. Connecting the lines, which are insulated at the ends, in the contacting zone of the respective terminal is done using various known connecting techniques (such as screwing, plug-in connection, soldering, insulation displacement connection method of termination, and crimping). The operating steps required for the wiring are even today predominantly done by hand. This is time-consuming and frequently requires trained workers; the resultant expense is therefore considerable.
For the sake of more-rational production, particularly in relatively large-scale mass production of identical electrical apparatus, it is known to prefabricate the lines or to produce partial or complete cable harnesses, or in other words a typical preassembled product, first in a first region, separately from the electrical apparatus. In a second region, the insulation of this preassembled product in the applicable apparatus or end product is then done. This final assembly includes essentially the contacting or connecting of the various lines of the preassembled product to the contacting zones of the terminals and laying and securing the prefabricated lines or cable harnesses in the apparatus. While automated prefabricating devices are already in use for prefabricating the lines, the ensuing further processing of the lines that have been produced, for instance to produce partial or complete cable harnesses, and the operations directly at the wiring site are still virtually without exception done by hand.
A number of methods and apparatuses are already known for automatic production of cable harnesses (U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,734; German Patent Disclosures DE-OS 36 08 243, 36 11 805, 38 20 636, and 38 20 638; and Swiss Patent 598 740), all of which employ what are known as wire-laying boards and the like. However, all these methods require very major technical effort and expense, which can be considered only for relatively large-scale mass-production of equipment. In any case, with this technique the fundamental problem still remains that the final assembly of the prefabricated lines or cable harnesses involves considerable labor, and so the attainable rationalization effect remains limited. Moreover, the course of the lines in the apparatus must often be chosen with a view to the prefabrication of the lines or cable harnesses, and this means long laying paths with detours, branches, loops, and bi-directional motions of clamping devices.